Dan James ‘absolutely unbelievable’ as pundit loses mind in shock v Portsmouth
Leeds winger Dan James won big praise despite his side’s shock 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Sunday 9 March.
Leeds’ trip to Pompey marked the Wales international’s 30th Championship appearance of the campaign, amid the Whites’ ongoing promotion push.
Daniel Farke’s men travelled to Hampshire at the top of the table, despite the fact that they had played one game fewer than promotion rivals Sheffield United and Burnley, who both won on Saturday 8 March, with victories arriving against Preston and Luton respectively.
The table-topping Whites had been on top form ahead of their Pompey encounter too, though, with recent consecutive wins arriving against fellow top-four outfits Sunderland and Sheffield United prior to last weekend’s 1-1 draw with play-off hopefuls West Brom.
However, Leeds fell to their first Championship defeat since November as they could not navigate themselves through a spirited Portsmouth performance, but James still found himself on the receiving end of some high-profile praise.
Ward outlines Leeds ace James as a cut above the rest
James has been a class act in the Championship this term, and notched 10 goals and nine assists in 29 league outings prior to his side’s defeat at Fratton Park.
| Dan James stats | 2024/25 Championship |
| Appearances | 30 |
| Goals | 10 |
| Assists | 9 |
The Wales international found himself at the centre of controversy just 10 minutes into the Whites’ visit to Portsmouth, when he appeared to have been fouled in the area by Pompey’s Matt Ritchie.
However, referee Robert Jones did not point to the spot, and the half-time score was 0-0 much to Leeds’ frustration.
Ward said on ITV [12.03, 9 March]: “Dan James has been absolutely unbelievable.
“He really is a Premier League player playing in the Championship.”
Leeds must not let their heads drop following Portsmouth defeat
Leeds should have put themselves 1-0 to the good during the early exchanges of the second half, but the usually reliable Joel Piroe squandered a golden opportunity to score.
Portsmouth later capitalised on Piroe’s failure to put the Whites in front, when Colby Bishop fired John Mousinho’s side just after the hour mark with a classy finish.
Farke responded to that setback by making a triple substitution which saw Joe Rothwell, Largie Ramazani and Mateo Joseph replace Ao Tanaka, Manor Solomon and Brenden Aaronson.
But such a shake-up from the Leeds boss did not prove to make the difference, as Portsmouth went on to claim a victory which all but secures their Championship status ahead of next season.
However, amid a close-run battle to book a spot in next season’s Premier League, the Whites must not let their heads drop ahead of their clash with Millwall on 12 March.
When they take on the Lions, Leeds must produce the sort of performance which saw them claim victories over Sheffield United and Sunderland, rather than that of their loss to Portsmouth, albeit they could have been awarded a first-half penalty and Pompey keeper Nicolas Schmid made some top drawer saves.